(Photo: Sophie Pattison)
KC Sheehan got one of the first craft distillery licenses in Washington, right after Dry Fly, who nabbed the first. But though his SoDo Spirits Distillery got its license in June of 2009, they didn’t get their first product out until October 2011, and they missed out on a small “craft-spirits” rush, as distributors shopped from among the new options.
Now, Sheehan says, he’s waiting for distributors to find room on their trucks.
But another problem is that hardly anyone knows what his signature spirit, EvenStar Shochu (sho-choo), is. There, Sheehan’s plan of attack is to educate people about shochu, which he thinks is an exceptionally special spirit.
That explains why I was walking through the heart of industrial SoDo the other day. To get to Sheehan’s distillery, I had crossed an extensive amount of railroad tracks via what may or may not have been a sidewalk approved for pedestrian use. As I turned onto Occidental Avenue, I was sure I was going the wrong way. On both sides of me were large warehouses, most of them unmarked. Large trucks narrowly squeezed past as I walked along the sidewalk-less road. I almost missed the (comparatively) small distillery.
I knocked on the large, thick door, not certain I’d be heard. In fact, I was pretty sure the whole building was empty—maybe even abandoned. The door did not open. A few minutes later, Sheehan stuck his head out the door. He hadn’t heard my knock, but was coming to put out his mobile doorbell.
I entered the warehouse to find a neat, well-lit and well-decorated room, with Jack Johnson playing in the background. There were bottles of shochu displayed on the beautiful second-hand hostess counter that Sheehan said he had bought from a restaurant that was going out of business. Though he says he buys almost everything second-hand, the showroom is polished and professional.
Sheehan’s SoDo Spirits Distillery is the only distillery outside of Japan to make authentic, or “honkaku,” shochu. This means that they make the shochu using local ingredients mixed with imports from Japan. Sheehan explained that shochu has been made in Japan since the 16th century and can be made from a variety of ingredients, including sweet potatoes, carrots, sweet chestnuts and rice. Sheehan makes his shochu from pearl barley, the result of which is called a mugi shochu.
The process of making shochu is very similar to that of sake. The barley is washed, the husk is removed, and then it is cooked. Once the cooked barley has cooled, it is layered with a fungus called koji (which is also used to make sake) in a temperature-controlled room. The flavor of the koji-seeded barley is earthy and nutty, with a slight sweetness to it. The process of preparing the barley allows a natural sugar to form. This natural sugar is the only sweetener in shochu, giving the final product a clear and subtle flavor that you won’t find in sweetened, flavored vodkas, and the like.
Nowadays, shochu is the most popular spirit in Japan (more popular than sake). It is favored for its light flavor and lack of a strong alcohol taste. It is also, Sheehan said, low in calories (only 30 per ounce), lower in alcohol content and good for the arterial system (or at least, as good as it gets). He told me that EvenStar Shochu is faithful to the traditional Japanese beverage, but also has a unique twist to appeal to an American customer base.
Shochu is distilled only once, which gives the flavor more character and a lower alcohol content. The one-time distilling also makes it a very pure alcohol, allowing it to pass through the body quite easily — you would have to drink a lot more shochu than vodka to get hung over.
Despite the ease of drinking shochu straight, Sheehan touts its success in cocktails. He described it as having “a vermouth-y feel” and suggested a martini with a shot of vodka or gin and two shots of shochu. The smooth, soft, non-ethanol taste of shochu takes the sharpness right out of the vodka and gin. Similarly, it tames too-tangy juices, as in a traditional screwdriver or a vodka cranberry.
EvenStar makes four different kinds of shochu: Original, Ginger, Mint and Chili. The original is the most versatile, according to Sheehan. It can be used in cocktails, martinis or it can be drunk straight. The original is made with an infusion of rosemary, and there is a definite herbal flavor to it. The rosemary itself is so subtle that it is hard to know definitively what kind of herb you are tasting, but there’s a clear medicinal, herbal hint.
Still self-distributed, the EvenStar line is carried in most independent liquor stores, as well as at the Metropolitan Market, and some restaurants, but Sheehan looks forward to the day when he’s carried by a major distributor. Know any shochu fans? If you buy a bottle, you get a free t-shirt.
The Process
The koji is seeded on the barley for two days. Then the mixture is allowed to ferment for ten days, and finally it is distilled in a potstill for two and a half hours. It if it is being flavored, the flavoring is put in with the mash as it is being distilled.
Urocanase and Arteries
During the koji process, an enzyme called urocanase is produced. This enzyme is particularly good for the arterial system, making shochu (as Sheehan reports) two times better for the arterial system than wine. Sheehan says “I can’t say that it’s healthful, but as alcohol goes it’s the most healthful alcohol.”